Orisa is ‘Overwatch’s’ Newest Hero – Now Updated with Release Date

The past few weeks have seen an unbelievable amount of speculation about who Overwatch’s next hero will be. (And it certainly doesn’t help that Overwatch developer Blizzard kept dropping vague-yet-tantalizing hints into our laps.) Well, the mystery officially ends today, as Blizzard has now revealed the 24th hero for their insanely popular competitive online FPS: Orisa, an OR-15 defense bot completely rebuilt by inventor Efi Oladele.

Check out Blizzard’s heartwarming origin trailer for Orisa below:

How Orisa Fits Into the Overwatch Story

Orisa’s roots go back to the Omnic crisis, which takes place before Overwatch. This global conflict that pitted humans against robots (Omnics), and eventually ended with a peace treaty. Years later—with robots and humans living in harmony—the citizens of Numbani develop a new version of an Omnic defense bot to protect themselves from the attacks of a local villain, Doomfist. The origin trailer above takes place after a squad of OR-15 robots fall in battle to Doomfist at the Numbani airport.

How Orisa Works Within the Game Itself

Orisa belongs to the “tank” role, and uses a machine gun-style weapon called a “Fusion Driver” as her main weapon. Her speed decreases when firing it, but on the plus side, this weapon has one of the highest ranges in Overwatch. The Fusion Driver’s alternate fire ability sends out a single pulse; clicking Orisa’s alternate fire again will pull in any affected heroes within its radius for a limited period of time. (It’s a bit like Zarya’s Graviton Surge.) Orisa also can use an ability called “Fortify” that increases her defense and protects her from any crowd-control abilities engineered to push or move characters.

One of Orisa’s most defining abilities comes in the form of her Protective Barrier, which may remind you of Winston’s Barrier Projector. But instead of extending this barrier around her own body, Orisa can use this ability to place a barrier somewhere in her vicinity. Finally, Orisa’s Ultimate Ability comes in the form of a Supercharger, which she tosses down on the ground to boost the attack of anyone within line of sight of this helpful asset. However, enemies can destroy the Supercharger, so you’ll have to place it carefully.

Orisa’s Launch Date

Blizzard announced the release date for Orisa—March 21—with a great behind-the-scenes video about her creation. Check it out for even more information on this next Overwatch hero.

Orisa will definitely add a new angle to Overwatch’s competitive play, and she’s sure to receive her share of tweaks as players figure out different game-breaking exploits. For more on Overwatch’s latest hero, be sure to check back with Fandom after she launches on March 21.

Bob Mackey is Games Editor at Fandom. Since joining the games press in 2007, he's written for sites like 1UP, Joystiq, The A.V. Club, Gamasutra, USgamer, and many others. He also hosts the weekly podcasts Retronauts and Talking Simpsons. Follow him on Twitter @bobservo.

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